You Should Have Seen the Other Guys
by JinxBlade
Summary: The turtles search for their lost friend in danger. My first OC fic!


Four dark figures meet on an abandoned rooftop in the center of New York City. From their faces, it was obvious the search had been fruitless.

"Anybody find anything?" Leo asked uselessly. He knew the answer. It would be the same as his own. No one had seen or heard of a young girl with angel wings. Or a lone young girl without angel wings. Or anything. They had nothing to go on.

No one could bring themselves to actually say it though, that they had no leads. It would be admitting that there was no hope, no chance of finding their friend.

Leo's fist shook. He had to take a deep breath. He had to stay calm. Panicking wouldn't help things. They needed to stay rational, needed to think things through. "Alright. Let's think this over again. Catherine called on the cell at 10:15, right? That was just over three hours ago. Raph said the message was static, like bad reception. What exactly did she say?"

The turtle in question slumped tiredly against an air conditioning vent. He glared at his older brother in irritation. "I already told ya everything I know, aright? All I got was "ambush" and "need help". The rest was just static. Then it cut off." Raph sighed and put his head in his hand. Remember, remember. "She was out of breath. Probably fighting or running. Wait!" He jumped up in realization. "At the very end. Right before she got cut off. There was a loud noise. A horn or something."

"You don't think she got hit by a truck?" worried Mikey.

Donatello shook his head. "Cat's smart enough to stay out of the street, even if she is being chased. It's unlikely that with so few vehicles out at night, she would manage to run out in front of one." He leaned on the building edge, scanning the darkened city for signs of life.

Leo's head jerked up. "Did you guys hear that?"

The turtles went silent as they listened intently. "I don't-"

"There!" Raph ran to the building edge to the south. "That was the sound! The horn I heard on the phone when Cat was cut off!"

Don shook his head. "That can't be right. There aren't any ports over in that direction. The pier is to the east. There is nothing over-" A hand slapped over his face. "Idiot!"

Leo's eyes widened. "What is it, Donnie?"

Donatello darted past him, leaping to the nearest southern rooftop in a flash. His three brothers followed belatedly, unsure what it was that the brainy turtle had grasped upon. They moved at full speed to the south, their feet barely hitting the surface of the concrete before launching forward to the next rooftop and to the next.

When a taller structure ahead no longer allowed forward movement, Don carried across to a fire escape and climbed to the top. His brothers followed suit, trying their best to stay silent and hurry up the rusted metal staircase.

Michelangelo collapsed onto the rooftop and huffed loudly. Leo and Raph made it up more gracefully, but leaned on the mortar to catch their breaths. "Geez, Don. Can't you at least tell us when you're gonna take off like that?"

Donatello paid him no attention. He was fishing in his ever-present bag of tricks, finally pulling out a pair of night vision goggles. He directed them to the south, sweeping the area carefully.

Raph hated being left in the dark. "Hey, Don, ya wanna let us know why we just went off on a high speed chase? Watcha lookin' at over there?" he demanded.

Donatello adjusted the settings on his goggles. A bit more contrast this time. He swept the area again. "I was looking through the archived city maps and remembered seeing a narrow channel dug from the river to a small company in the south. It's just big enough for a single cargo ship to get through, so I didn't pay it much attention. But it would explain the horn you heard on the cell. River traffic through this area is reserved to daytime hours, but since this is a privately owned channel, the company could have deliveries any time it wanted."

Leo moved next to his brother and squinted in the dark. "So you think the horn Raph heard could be a boat on this private channel?"

Don focused on a large building to the south west. It looked like it was a storage facility, with a large open space on the far side. "I don't think so. I know so. There it is over there." Zipping the goggles in his bag, Don took off again with brothers close behind.

The brothers made a quick sweep of the area and circled in on the warehouse. Sure enough, it was lined next to a small dock accessible only by a narrow strip of water.

"Hey, guys. Check this out." Michelangelo crouched over something on the ground by dock. As the others approached, he stood up, holding out his hand. "Looks like Don's right. Our favorite magic girl was here."

Donatello took the crushed shell cell from his brother. "It's taken a beating. But at least we know she is probably nearby."

"Why do you say that?"

Don turned the cell over in his hand. "Because it has a handprint in blood."

Leo inhaled sharply, then let it out slowly. "We don't know for sure that it's hers, okay? Let's just hurry up and find her. The warehouse is next. She may be inside. But let's be careful. She may have some unexpected guests still hanging around."

Nodding assent, they moved swiftly to the strangely quiet building. Don accessed the security lock and opened the door. "Shouldn't there be a security guard or something?" Mikey whispered. From the scattered lights on the high ceiling, they could see just see the top of high stacks of boxes and pallets of merchandise. Flashlights were distributed to illuminate the dark surroundings. They spread out slightly, far enough to widen the search area, but close enough to help if someone was jumped.

Raphael wrinkled his nose at the must and mold on the walls. Someone really needed to bring a maid in there. He swept the area with his flashlight. Nothing but boxes and more boxes. He was about to turn around when the light hit something out of place. A white bird feather. Next to it were scrapes in the dust, like someone had recently moved a pallet. Acting on a hunch, he found the out of place pallet and gave it a tug. Something shifted behind it. Raph hauled it a few more feet and grabbed his flashlight.

There was a hidden area behind the pallet. Raph's eyes widened when the flashlight hit the body of a security guard. His pulse was slow but steady. Sweeping the light slowly across the floor, he froze when something growled.

"Whoever you are...you'd better get out of here...or you'll end up like him." The speaker acted tough, but was in pain. And the voice sounded familiar.

"Big words for someone obviously injured. Come on out, Cat. It's me." Raphael swept the flashlight more broadly across the area.

Catherine sighed heavily. "It's about damn time... you idiot... I called you like... five hours ago." She shifted slightly in her corner, trying to sit up.

"It was three hours ago, fly girl. What didja get yerself into this time?" Raph knelt next to the girl. She had blood all down her left side, but was smiling, so it must not have been too bad.

"Three hours? It seemed like... a lot longer waiting... for your slow ass... especially after that... security guard showed up... He took a lot out... of me." Catherine's smile was more of a grimace.

Raph called the others over. "Just a security guard? Man, you're getting weak," he teased.

Catherine glared at him. "I would be if it... was just a security guard... and not a Purple Dragon ambush... that shot me out of the air."

The others were calling for them. "Over here, guys!" It took a few seconds for the rest to find the entrance to the hiding space. Relief was plain on all faces at the long waited reunion.

"Great. The gang's... all here. What's up, guys?"

Leo rolled his eyes. "'What's up?' she says. We are out half the night looking for her and all she can say when we arrive to rescue her is 'What's up?'. Typical." His tone was light, but his eyes were serious, noting her injuries and pained voice. "Are you alright?"

Cat waved a hand. "Yeah, sure... I'm good. Just buckshot in... my wing and a fractured ankle... from when I landed... Other than that... I'm exhausted... Good to see you found me though."

Don poked and prodded the wing, examining the extent of the damage. "Well, it isn't buckshot, fortunately. From what I can tell, it's most likely some kind of high powerful rifle." He pulled out a roll of gauze and carefully applied it to the wound. Catherine struggled not to jerk away. By the time he finished, her face was distinctly paler.

"We should get you home as quick as we can. Do you want me to wrap your ankle for the trip?"

Catherine shook her head. "No. Let's just... get out of here... Please."

Leo nodded. "Alright. I'll take her. You guys stick close." He crouched with his shell to her. Mikey and Don lifted her gently onto his back and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Donatello looked at the injured wing with concern. There was no way they were going to get all five feet of one wing out the maze of boxes, let alone down into the sewer. "I think we are going to have to tie your wing back, otherwise it will get jostled too much during the trip back."

The poor girl looked sick again. Another roll of bandages was used to pull the wing in behind her and bind it firmly to her back. She buried her face into Leo's shoulder, who whispered, "You gonna be okay?"

Her voice was strained. "I'm gonna pass out, okay? Just get me home."

Leo reached back and clasped his hands under her thighs for support then carefully stood, easily regaining his balance. "Ready? Let's get out of here."

Careful maneuvering between boxes, past the unconscious guard, between more boxes, and out the door, then they were on their way. They moved silently back to the Lair, avoiding all signs of early morning movement. As they flew between rooftops, Leo glanced back at his passenger. Her face was still buried in his shoulder. "Cat, you still awake?"

"Mmmph."

"Do me a favor."

"Mmmph."

"Don't scare me like that again, okay? You got pretty beat up this time. I was worried."

Cat lifted her head. Leo was surprised to see her smiling. "You think this was bad?

"You should have seen the other guys."

Leo groaned and ran on.


End file.
